18th March 2014Lesson 1: The group worked on and off of the lead rein, using school shapes to focus on steering and accuracy. Chris on Rupert, Kim on Sultan, Bradley on Conker and Ethan on George. Riders rode with and without stirrups in walk and trot to help balance.Lesson 2 : A change of ponies today for some of the riders - Beth rode Bally and Courtney rode Shamus. Lucy rode Ivan, Daisy rode Sultan and Damaris rode Conker. The group rode both individually and as a whole ride. We used poles on the long diagonals to focus steering. In another exercise riders took in turns to stop at school letters. As a rider approached a letter where someone was stopped they 'bumped' them to walk on.Lesson 3 : A change of pony for Tabitha today - she rode Bertie. Orla rode Harvey, Cody rode Ivan and Sophie rode Ferdie. This group rode without reins - they 'flew' arms out wide, and then 'got cross' hands on hips - to help balance and mobility. They then rode without stirrups - and 'bicycled' to improve balance and stretch out legs. Then the riders practiced stopping and walking on using school letters - and 'bumping' others on. The lesson finished with a couple of games of Luck Letters - Orla and Cody won. Cody had a cunning plan - its a secret though!!